The time consuming task of opening wrapped packages of mail, media or other similar items without damaging the contents within is currently performed manually. The specific tasks of piercing an entry point into the wrapper, enlarging the entry point, loosening the wrapper surrounding the contents and then removing the wrapper from the contents and placing the removed wrapper in a waste receptacle or dunnage takeaway is today laboriously performed manually. Improvements to aid this task have been proposed as in Redford et al. United States Patent Application 20050120675, Jun. 9, 2005. According to this publication a method of preparing flat articles for sorting includes the steps of: (1) receiving a bundle of flat items to be sorted, the bundle being wrapped with a flexible film such that the film forms an enclosed package of flat items, (2) placing the bundles on a substantially horizontal, substantially frictionless work surface, moving the bundle adjacent at least one film opener, the film opener being automatically activated when the bundle is moved adjacent the film opener, (3) removing the cut film from the flat items, and (4) stacking the unbundled flat items in a cartridge. This is still fundamentally a manual process.
While automated systems for opening boxes and the like are known, plastic wrapped bundles of flat items like mail are particularly difficult to unwrap by machine. The plastic conforms closely to the contents and an operation of cutting it away with blades or the like would inevitably damage the contents. The present invention attempts to resolve this problem and enable automated unwrapping of plastic wrapped bundles. See for example the system of Porter et al. U.S. Patent Pub. 2009/0113853. In this system content damage is likely during opening, and unwrapping is manual.